Wire stretcher



Oct. 18, 1949. w. w. PARKS WIRE STRETCHER Filed Feb. 5, 1947 lnz' entorWalter W Parks WW 12m wm KM R m B Q E FIHIQUPP uwudg 8 Q Q Patented Oct.18, 1949 WIRE STRETCHEB Walter W. Parks, Bloomington, Ind.

Application February 3, 1947, Serial No. 726,067

7 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements and structuralrefinements in wire 'stretchers, more specifically, wire fencestretchers, and the principal object of the invention is to provide adevice of the character herein described, which may be conveniently andeffectively employed for stretching the wire fence preparatory to thesecuring thereof on the fence post.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wire stretcher whichmay be quickly and conveniently adjusted to facilitate operation thereofon uneven ground.

Another object of the invention is to provide a Wire stretcher which issimple in construction and operation, and which may be easilymanipulated.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a wire stretcherwhich will not easily become damaged and which is otherwise well adaptedfor the purpose for which it is intended.

With the above more important objects in view, and such other objects asmay become apparent as this specification proceeds, the inventionconsists essentially of the arrangement and construction of parts asillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention, showing the same in use;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the invention per se, and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a block used in the invention.

I?) may be increased or decreased accordingly.

The aforementioned fork I3 is downwardly arcuated and the arms l9thereof are provided at their lower extremities with suitable bearingblocks 2a which, together with further bearing blocks in, constitutewhat may be referred to as a pair of knuckles 22.

A pair of extension arms 23 are each secured to one of the blocks 2i,each of the extension arms consisting of a pair of slidably telescopedsections 2% and .25 which are adjustably secured together by means ofsuitable bolts or pins 26. These pins extends transversely through thesections 23 and are selectively receivable in a plurality of apertures21 provided in the section 25. In this manner, the overall length ofeach extension arm may be independently increased or decreased, asdesired.

' axis of the bore 30.

Like characters of reference are used to designate like parts in thespecification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in'detail, the inventionconsists of a wire stretcher designated generally by the referencecharacter Ill, the same embodying in its construction a tubular memberll, one end portion of which is telescoped in a tubular extension I2,while the remaining end of the member is bifurcated to provide a forkI3.

A suitable fastener, such as a length of chain It, is equipped at theends thereof with a pair of screw eyes [5, the latter in turn, beingselectively receivable in transversely aligned apertures l6 formed inthe parts II and 12, as will be clearly apparent.

The chain I4 is adapted to encircle, as it were, the fence post H and isremovably retained in position thereon by means of the nuts IS withwhich the screws eyes are provided. It will be noted that by simplyposititioning the screw eyes in the various of the apertures IS, theoverall length of the member I l (including the extension It will benoted that the extension arms 23, in effect, constitute continuations ofthe arms l9, and the free extremities of the extension sections 25 restupon the ground surface 28, as will be clearly understood.

A block 29, provided with a transversely extending, screw threaded bore33, is also equipped with a pair of journals 3|. The latter extend inrelatively opposite directions with respect to one another andsubstantially at right angles to the The journals 35 are rotatablypositioned in the knuckles 22, as is best shown in Figure 2.

A screw threaded shaft 32, provided at one end thereof with a crankhandle 33, is operatively positioned in the bore 30 of the block 29, theremaining end of the shaft being equipped with a swivel box or block 34.The latter, in turn, is provided with a hook 35, and a flexible elementsuch as a length of rope or cable 36 is connected at one end thereof tosaid hook. The remaining end of the cable 35 is attached in any suitablemanner (as exemplified at 31) to the fence wire 38.

When the invention is placed in use, the fastener id is engaged with thebolt E1, the extension arms 23 are placed upon the ground, and the cable36 is attached to the wire 38, as has already been explained. Thereupon,by simply rotating the crank handle 33, the fence will be stretchedthrough the medium of the cable 36, preparatory to the securing thereofon the fence post, as will be clearly apparent.

The provision of the swivel 34 will, of course, facilitate rotation ofthe shaft 32 without twisting the cable 36 and it should be understoodthat the bearing blocks 20 and 2! in each of the knuckles 3 22 arerigidly secured together, so as to prevent the entire device fromcollapsing in the direction of the arrow 39.

It should be noted, that once the cable 36 has been attached or appliedto the fence Wire 38, by rotating the crank handle 33 the wire will bepulled toward post ll, so that the wire may be fastened thereto by nailsor the like. To tighten the wire to the adjacent post (not shown), thechain It is disengaged with the first post and re-engaged with thesecond post, by adjusting section l2 relative to section II, whereby thedevice may be used without disengaging the cable with the wire 38.

Finally, the longitudinal adjustment of the extension arms 23 willpermit the same to be independentiy lengthened or shortened, so as tofacilitate operation of the device on uneven ground.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will beclearly understood from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly,further description thereof'at this point is considered unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferredembodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changesin the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A wire stretcher comprising an elongated member, a sleeve adjustablymounted on one end of said member, a flexible strap carried by saidsleeve for engaging a post, an arcuate fork element at the oppositeterminal of said member, extendable arms rigidly carried by theterminals of said fork, a block pivotally carried by said fork, a screwthreaded rod receivably engaging said block, a flexible element carriedby said rod, and

means for connecting said flexible element to a fence Wire.

2. A wire stretcher comprising an elongated member, a sleeve slidablymounted on one end of said member, means for holding said sleeve in aselected adjusted position relative to said member, a flexible strapcarried by said sleeve for engaging a post, an arcuate fork at theopposite end of said member, extendable arms carried by the outerterminals of said fork, a block pivotally carried by said fork, a screwthreaded rod receivably engaging said block, an elongated flexibleelement, means connecting said flexible element to said rod, and meansfor connecting said flexible element to a fence wire.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein a plurality of longitudinallyspaced apertures are provided on said member and said sleeve and themeans for holding said sleeve relative to said member includes fastenersselectively engaging said apertures, said fasteners having eye terminalsengaging the ends of said flexible element.

4. The combination of claim 2 wherein said means connecting saidflexible element to said rod includes swivel means.

5. The combination of claim 2 wherein said means connecting saidflexible element to said rod includes a swivel box carried by said rod,and a hook member carried by said box for engaging one terminal of saidflexible element.

6. A wire stretcher comprising an elongated tubular member, a sleeveslidably mounted on one terminal of said member, a plurality oflongitudinally spaced apertures provided in said sleeve and said member,fasteners selectively engaging said apertures for holding said sleeve inselected adjusted positions relative to said member, eyes carried bysaid fasteners, a flexible strap removably engaging said eye forengaging a post, an arcuate fork at the opposite end of said member,extendable arms carried by the outer terminals of said fork, a blockpivotally carried by said fork, a screw threaded rod engageablyreceiving said block, hand gripping means for rotating said rod, aswivel box carried by one terminal of said rod, a hook member carried bysaid box, a flexible element, an eye at one end of said flexible elementfor engaging said hook, and means for connecting said flexible elementto a fence wire.

7. A wire stretcher comprising an elongated member having an arcuatebifurcated terminal, means carried by said member for anchoring the sameto a fence post, extendable arms carried by the furcations of saidbifurcated terminal, a block pivotally carried by said bifurcatedterminal and having an internally threaded opening therein, a screwthreaded rod receivably engaging the opening in said block, a flexiblemember having one end swiveled to said rod, and means carried by thefree end of said flexible member for anchoring the same to a fence wire,said extendable arms being inclined relative to said flexible member.

WALTER W. PARKS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

